davis_square | Follow Up (Parking) (Reply)

I just wanted to follow up on the parking petition I know a lot of you signed, as well as the petition that the Somerville Theatre had out in their lobby with separate wording. I just recieved a letter from the city that the Traffic Board had voted 2-0 to deny taking any action on the petitions, for reasons stated in attached letters.

Basically, out of the 55 signatures I collected, 15 weren't actually voters, so I had 40, 50 is the required amount for action to be taken. Out of the "out of towners" petition I submitted, 5 people actually were residents (I give them credit for checking) obviously, 5 is not 50. And out of the almost 100 on the petition from the Somerville Theatre..40 were valid (I'll let you do the math).

I was concerned that out of the 55 signatures, a few might not be valid, I guess the big lesson is to combine your efforts. That was 85 signatures total that would have gotten us a hearing, but they refused to combine the totals, even though they were submitted together, which is only understandable. The point was the same but the wording was different.

I'm sorry that I'm not bringing better news, and that your efforts weren't better rewarded if you did come out and sign the petition. Thank you for trying, hopefully the newly formed parking committee that includes a few local business managers and owners can do more than I could, even though even members of the committee are assuming its formation was more of a "shut up" tactic than anything.